Art of photomechanical printing.



Patented April 26, 1904-.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..-

EMANUEL SPITZER, or Munroe, GERMANY.

ART OF PHOTOMEOHANIQALQ PRINTING.

.SPEIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,338, dated April 26, 1904:.

A li tion filed lllfarch23, 1899. Serial No. 710,142. (No specimens.) I

To all whont it may concern: I v

Be it known that I, EMANUEL SPITZER, a subject of the King of Bavaria, residingat Munich, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements" in the Art of Photomechanical Printing, of which the following is a description. 7 c. r

The present invention relates to the art of making reproductions of drawings, paintings, photographs, and the like.

The transfer of the original to the printingplate for autotype purposes as hitherto effected does not give or produce an artisticallyperfect reproduction, owing to the fact that the hard lines and points or dots produce a monotonous gray appearance, causing the light parts to appear darkened and the darkened parts insufliciently marked. This disadvantage is obviated by means of thepresent process, which provides new means for efiecting the decomposition into dots and lines necessary for the proper transfer of the halftones.

The novel process embodying the present invention involves mainly the utilization of the texture of fabrics for the purpose of producing the grain necessary to obtain the halftone effect when printing typographically in relief or in intaglio or planographically. The fabrics are employed directly, and-the originals from which the reproductions are to be made are first drawn, painted, or photographed on the fabric for this purpose. Any fabric may be employed with more or less advantage which is capable of receiving the pictorial or photographic representation. Linen, cambric, and silk are particularly well adapted for the purpose, owing to their perfect Workmanship and the beauty of the fabric itself. The fabric is prepared according to the object for which it is intendeda'. a, whether for drawing, painting, or photography. If paintings are to be produced on the fabric, the colors chosen should be translucent colors, which spread lightly, so. as not to efface the grain of the fabric. One of the best colors for this purpose is bone-black, which if properly laid on is easily handled and produces the darkest and lightest shades. After the original has been completed and care has been taken that the grain of the fabric is completely retained the same-- that is, the fabric bearing the originalis photographed and transferred without the aid or interpositionof screens, such as usually employed in preparing half-tone-relief printingplates, to the printing-plate in any well-known or suitable manner, as employed in the arts of photomechanical printing, the reproduction showing the same grain as the original.

The transfer may take place for lithographic or typographic printing, and if the plate is grained the eflect of the process may be varied and enhanced in many ways, as will be understood. For example, I can take a negative glass photograph in the ordinary way from said fabric bearing the original and transfer said negative photograph by exposing a metal plate bearingasuitable light sensitivecoating which becomes insolublev to etch: ing-baths under the influence of light under suchnegative photograph and after the light has acted for a sufficient length of time through the negative removing the negative, washing away the soluble portion of the light sensi tive coating, and then etching the plate. The result will be a printing-plate which will give the finest details of half-tone effect.

The term photograph as employed in the claims of course inc hides negatives as employed in the above example.

By means of this invention the disintegration of colors in printing in succession from a series of color-plates to produce a colored picture by their combined effect will be much more thorough, harmonious, and natural, because the nature of the fabric permits of finer gradations than the lines and dots hitherto employed. For this purpose as many impressions are made from the outline plate or templet as color-plates are required on plates covered with the desired fabric, the parts of these plates which are not to come into efiect being suitably covered or stopped out, as will be unstood in the art of chromatic printing. These impressions are then treated in the manner above to produce the various finely-stippled plates for the various colors, which plates are then further used in color-printing, as will be readily understood.

The effect of the reproductions produced by the above process is much softer, effective,

finished, and beautiful than can possibly be attained by the so-called half-tone stipple processes hitherto employed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. The process of making printed pictures which consists in combining with the representation of the object to be pictured the representation of a fabric, and then photographing such combined picture.

2. The process of making printed pictures which consists in combining the representation of the object to be pictured and the representation of a fabric, then copying the combined picture photographically, and then transferring the resulting photograph to the printing-surface without the interposition of half-tone screens.-

3. The process of making printed pictures which consists in combining the representation of the object to be pictured and the representation of a fabric, then copying the combined picture photographically, then transferring the resulting photograph to the printing-surface Without the interposition of half-tone screens, and, finally, printing from such printing-surface.

6. The process of making printed pictures which consists in first producing the desired picture in translucent colors on textile material, then copying said picture photographicprinting-surface without the interposition of half-tone screens, and, finally, printing from said printing-surface.

7 The process which consists in making a series of color-plates by combining the part of the representation for each color-plate with a textile fabric, then photographically copying the combined textile fabric and partial representation for each color-plate, and then transferring the resulting photographs to the colorplates.

8. The process which consists in making a series of color-plates by combining the part of the representation for each color-plate with a textile fabric, then photographically copying the combined textile fabric and partial representation for each color-plate, then transferplate, and, finally, printing seriatz'm from such color-plates.

9. The process-which consists in making as many impressions :from the outline plate or templet'as color-plates are required, said impressions being made on plates covered with fabric, the parts of these color-plates which are not to come into effect being covered in suitable manner, and the said plates being then photographed and the photographs transferred to printing-plates in the ordinary manner after having been correspondingly treated as color-plates.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

EMANUEL SPITZER.

Witnesses EMIL HENZEL,

'PHILOMINA HELL.

ring the resulting photographs to the colorally, next transferring said photograph to the 

